Wireless communication systems have become an important means by which many people worldwide have come to communicate. A wireless communication system may provide communication for a number of mobile devices, each of which may be serviced by a base station. Examples of mobile devices include cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices, wireless modems, laptop computers, personal computers, etc.
As wireless communication becomes more popular, there are new challenges to accommodating large call volumes and maintaining call quality in a cost-efficient manner. One way to increase efficiency is to maximize the data rate of transmissions by base stations. Synchronized base stations cause less interference for neighboring base stations than asynchronous base stations, thus allowing higher data rates. Therefore, benefits may be realized by improved methods and apparatus for synchronizing a base station in a wireless communication system.